It’s Halloween, a night of terror.
Imagine you’re walking down a dark street, and a man steps out of the shadows, points a gun at your head, and says he’s going to kill you.
How would you react?
If you’re like most people, you would freeze up. Your heart races, time slows down, and your mind goes blank. You feel powerless and helpless, unable to think or act. This paralyzing “freeze” reaction is your body’s hardwired response to extreme stress. Why does it happen, and what can you do about it?
To understand why we freeze, let’s look at the SAFE process our brains use to react to stimuli:
→ STIMULUS – The threat requiring a response
→ ANALYSIS – Your brain analyzes based on past experiences
→ FORMULATION – If analysis succeeds, you formulate a plan
→ EXECUTION – You execute your plan.
This process happens in 0.3 to 0.6 seconds.
The problem is that analysis fails when faced with a life-threatening situation you’ve never experienced before. With no experience to draw from, your brain hits the panic button, triggering paralysis. You freeze up, unable to think or act.
Freezing in the face of danger goes back to our evolutionary roots. Playing dead could allow prey animals to avoid attack when threatened by a predator. And in humans, freezing can help us evaluate threats before acting. While freezing may have served a purpose for our ancestors, it can be deadly today. Unlike a lion that might lose interest if you play dead, a gunman will still pull the trigger. To survive violence now, we need to override our natural freeze instinct.
The good news is you can train yourself to overcome freeze:
→ Stimulus-Response Training: Program automatic reactions to bypass analysis.
→ Exploit the Startle Response: Surprise your opponent with immediate action.
→ Vertical Decision Making: Train simple “if this, then that” choices for stressful situations.
With the right preparation, you can act decisively when your life depends on it. Violence often relies on the element of surprise. But you gain the upper hand if you can surprise the attacker with immediate action.
Don’t resign yourself to helplessness. You have the power to take control of your mind and body and change the outcome. With training to short-circuit freeze, you can give yourself a fighting chance against violence. Be ready, be prepared, and you won’t have to be a victim. Freezing in the face of danger is hardwired but can be rewired.
With training and repetition, you can learn to react effectively under stress. Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to predators. Commit to overcoming learned helplessness.
Peace through training and superior firepower.
Bullet Points:
** Dr. Jordan Peterson – People have a bottomless capacity for darkness…
** “The Department of Homeland Security greenlighted refugee applications for Venezuelan gang members after immigration officers failed to spot their gang tattoos, The Washington Times has learned. Kevin Grigsby, head of refugee operations at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said several members of the vicious Tren de Aragua gang were approved and made it to the U.S. border before a different agency spotted the tattoos and blocked them from entering. Experts said tattoos are a standard indicator of gang membership and expressed shock that USCIS was missing those red flags. Concerns have been heightened about TDA, whose members have been linked to a series of high-profile crimes.
What do you want to bet that nobody lost their job?
** CDRSAL asks whether or not the US forgot about the Arctic. I know that Pedo Joe has been spending time at the beach, but I doubt that he knows which state the beach where he’s reclining is in. They give him the pudding in the afternoon before his nap, and that’s all that matters. Has the Ho ever visited Alaska? I strongly doubt it unless Willy Brown took her along on an Alaskan cruise, and even then, she likely saw little more than the cabin’s ceiling. CDRSAL doesn’t get into the weeds about incompetent leadership, but the fish rots from the head down.
Policy
American foreign policy is always a hostage to the domestic politics of the moment. While this might be the unavoidable byproduct of democracy, it can significantly distort our understanding of the world and the coherence of strategic planning.
The Israel-Iran-Ukraine-Russia line dance provides a steady stream of examples, but it has never brought as much clarity to the mismatch between U.S. partisan politics and American grand strategy as it has in recent days. Republicans tend to favor Israel but not Ukraine, and Democrats do the reverse. Our enemies, of course, see it very differently.
Just before the weekend, the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Russia has supplied the Houthis—the Iranian proxy in Yemen that has been shooting missiles at commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea—with “targeting data” to help sink ships, kill civilians, and sabotage the supply chain. “The data,” the Journal explains, “was passed through members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who were embedded with the Houthis in Yemen.”
That sentence is a handy organizational chart. Iran doesn’t merely support the Houthis. The Houthis are Iran. The Russia-Iran alliance has become tight enough that Vladimir Putin is helping the Iranians retaliate against the U.S. and Israel for countering Hamas’s invasion of Israel and, more specifically, for America’s ongoing support for Ukraine’s existence against Russia’s eliminationist war machine.
Russia is angry that it is terrible at war, so it is making more war. They have a stone in their shoe where the US is involved. First, we shrug when they say they’re going to invade Ukraine, then we arm the Ukes with more and more weapons and pay for their civil service from our pockets.
Shawn Ryan Interviews Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-2)
Will anyone be held responsible for the attempted assassination of Pres. Trump?
Eli Crane is ‘my’ congressman – good man.
The World According to PaulM
Barack & Big Mike
The tranny couple achieved more than their wildest dreams and are more affluent than all but a few humans have ever been or will ever be. They have mansions in Hawaii, Washington DC, Martha’s Vineyard, and a lovely suburban home in Illinois. But it’s not enough for them, and it never will be.
To utopia-seeking radicals like Barack Obama, the ideal statesman of the destructive Left, no one can rest until they reach their ultimate goal — what Obama himself called for as early as 2008: “fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
Is Barack watching his empire collapse, mere days from his fourth term? The lawfare he helped engineer failed, just like the bugging of Trump Tower and the long campaign of Russia hoaxes failed.
Obama has been an influential frontman for the most significant criminal enterprise D.C. has ever had. The half-white yet full DEI face of the swamp operated under the transcendent cloak of hope and change, but maybe things are about to change uncomfortably for Barack and his wingman, Big Mike.
Identify the Feature Film
A
Non-period clothing and sword, wrong name, and wrong timeline, but it still worked.
B
They call him “Sandy Claws”
C
Deep rotting fear. They were infected by it. Did you see it? Fear is a sickness. It will crawl into the soul of anyone who engages it. It has tainted your peace already.
D
All right, men… we’re going. But I want you to remember who you are. You are the 10th Light Horse! Men from Western Australia.
They didn’t bring their horses…
E
Unfinished
Parting Shot
End
Identify the Feature Film:
A. Braveheart
B. The Nightmare Before Christmas
C. Apocalypto
D. Gallipoli
E. Edward Scissorhands
Light horse was very successful in the desert in WW1 after Gallipoli.
One of my late great uncles went from Private to Lieutenant Colonel in the 11th Light Horse based in Queensland. He was in from about 1930 to 1950 and went from horses to tanks. His funeral in 1984 had about 1000 people.
An uncle (father’s oldest brother) was also in 11 LH from 1939 then was sent to infantry as a sergeant. Survived three beach landings against the Japanese.
10 LH still exists as an Army Reserve unit in Western Australia. Mounted infantry using APCs.
11 LH was disbanded into other armour units in 1943.
Thank you for that!
Excellent 👍
I need to practice the SAFE protocol, not having been in any life threatening situations from another human. But I know I have a decent level of self-preservation –was floating the Arkansas, fishing with a few friends, I’m in back fiddling with something, back turned, the current had skewed the stern towards a rock overhang, they saw it and vaguely heard them yell something, out of my periphery saw the rock coming at my head and within that .3 second rule dove for the boat bottom. Reflexes matter.
***
Heh- nice one….but hey, WD-40 and Duct Tape — 2 items that allow you to rule your own world. We engineer types may overly think and complicate matters in our ingrained linear fashion, but sometimes – through checking the results multiple times to see if our assumptions WERE STILL NOT WORKING – go for the simplest. Reminded me of this:
–
An engineer, doctor, and lawyer were playing golf. Got behind a really slow foursome. After the frotn nine they asked the manager what gives, says they are all blind, firefighters who saved our clubhouse a few months back, so we let them play for free. Doctor offers to see what he can do. Lawyer says he’ll check into compensation for their injuries. The engineer says, “Why can’t they play at night?!”
Well? Why can’t they?
Can’t tell if you want to know or already do and are messing with me. (Heh) Clue- ‘blind’ (also points to engineers targeting problem solving with a certain coldness of purpose focus)
SAFE. From John Farnam–
“24 June 03
—-
Your “Lizard Brain”
—-
In a recent conversation with good friend, Dave Grossman, Dave mentioned that he had recently talked with a gaggle of bearded, bespectacled psychiatrists (all with heavy, German accents). Dave was getting their advice on the differences between the human “front brain” and the “mid-brain.” They had a number of terms for the “mid-brain,” all with a minimum of six syllables and all difficult to pronounce. When Dave suggested to them the term, “mid-brain,” they all nodded in wavering agreement that the term was probably adequately descriptive and that longer and more difficult terms would never see general use anyway.
—-
What Dave, Gary Klugiewicz, and I all concur on is that lifesaving, psychomotor skills, intended to be used in an emergency must eventually filter from the frontal lobes (front brain), where they are first learned, into the mid-brain (primitive or “lizard” brain) if they are ever going to be accessible when one is in a hyper-stressful, crisis environment.
—-
The frontal lobes is where our intellect dwells. Its precocious and elevated development separates us from lower forms of life. In one’s frontal lobes lives discernment, understanding, and our ethical skeleton. However, the frontal lobes are also the residence of confusion, indecision, hesitation, and panic. The frontal lobes are never really quite sure of anything! The front brain is the “legislative branch” of our intelligence. The mid-brain is the “executive branch.” The front brain works just fine when we are, at a leisurely pace, contemplating our navels, but, in a life-threatening emergency, a shrewd front brain wisely hands off operations to the mid-brain.
—-
The mid-brain has no philosophy, no hesitation, and no regret. It knows only death, and life, and nothing in between! The mid-brain is never confused and never dithers. Its job is to get us out of this mess alive! It is poor at multitasking. It acts decisively and only does one thing at a time. It never apologizes, never looks back, and sheds no tears.
—-
Unfortunately, the mid-brain is ignored in the training philosophy of many institutions. We do too much training “in the abstract.” “In the abstract” is where all training must begin, because the front brain is the entry point for all information. Unhappily, that is where much of what passes for training also ends. As the student is gradually immersed in the training environment, stress levels must be increased so that important psychomotor skills begin to filter into the mid-brain. The mid-brain will only “know what to do” if the student has been “stress inoculated.”
—-
The hand-off from front brain to mid-brain must be seamless and immediate. The mid-brain has to “hit the ground running” if there is to be any chance that it can act in time to save your life. You need to “have a plan,” and it must reside in the mid-brain. Unhelpful thoughts, swimming around in your front brain, must be jettisoned before they contaminate your mid-brain. This will mean endless repetitions under physical stress and anxiety.
—-
Ultimately, your front brain will be of limited use during a crisis. In fact, it (and you, if you don’t permit a hand-off to the mid-brain) will be little more than a blithering, dithering buffoon! If the hand-off to your mid-brain is smooth, authoritative, and timely, and your mid-brain has been well trained , it will know what to do and will act decisively to save your life. Treat it well. Train it well!
—-
/John”
—-
—-
https://defense-training.com/
Wow…never gave it much thought but seriously great explanation.
1. great pic – hands have gotten betten – Title? “Quoth the Raven…”
2. used to walk home, ‘cept when it was teeming, from 54th & 5th to 72nd & York 5/6 nights/week (dressed as a “professional”) with nary a prob – OK, it was the early ’70s, but still – SA, mebbe?
3. I trust the “news” (and opinion/editorial) from the WSJ ’bout as much as that from the old grey lady (& ABC, MSNBC, CNN). I’m getting more and more tired of having animal excrement shoveled down my throat and then repeated/embellished by people I talk to (none of whom I would consider dummies), most of whom have absolutely no idea of the politics/economics of the Russian vs. Western European mindset (‘cept what they read in the papers/magazines or hear/see on TV) and are totally unable to connect the dots. IMHO: after watching the guy carefully/thoughtfully since he took over, I remain convinced that he is 1. a Russia (not russian) nationalist, 2. more pro-Russia than pro-Putin (will do something if it helps mother Russia even if it does not embellish/polish the Putin image, 3. Russia is/can be a major economic powerhouse: those who “run” the Euro nations do not like/want a piece of that; Vladimir Vladimirovich will not give it to them (very unlike Volodymyr Oleksandrovych), 4. Vladimir Vladimirovich is an extremely intelligent man: I’d give all that I have/own to be a fly on the wall at his meetings with The Donald in 2025.
4. “The tranny couple”
So many believe him to be very bright bordering on brilliant; my personal opinion: I think he’s somewhere up there as well: around a level somewhere between 80-85; y’know, like Charlie McCarthy (or am I giving him to much credit?)
The Gray Lady, “America’s paper of record.”
—
“If white men weren’t complaining, it would be an indication that we weren’t succeeding,”
-New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
—
That was said over 20 years ago. It’s not gotten better since. The Cabal (Deep State, NWO, Illuminati, “The [redacted]”, the Trilateral Commission; whatever it’s called) despises you (you as in us, not you personally). I’m not even white, but that Sulzberger statement gets my back up. For a lot of reasons, but honestly, the sanctimonious hypocrisy of our “elite” is what pisses me off the most.
The sooner that you accept that they are your betters, the happier you’ll be. Eat your cricket based Soylent, own nothing and revel in Kamala’s joy.
If I ate cricket-based soylent I’d be lean and stringy like that cricket-filled turkey. (Not Türkiye.)
But thanks to MAGADonald’s I’m probably moist and tender like the acornivorous turkey. (Safe to self-describe as “moist and tender” now that Diddy is behind bars. Or … IS it? Clive Davis is still a free man. That was apropos of absolutely nothing. Last sentence typed for legal purposes.)
→ Stimulus-Response Training: Program automatic reactions to bypass analysis
I thank the Army for ingraining that in my head. Many years ago an employee, 11B Vietnam Vet, and I were paying for our coffee and donuts when a thug pushed between us pointing a semi-automatic handgun at the cashier. Glen and I instantly tossed our hot coffee in his face. Glen grabbed the handgun, racking the slide back, and I stomped on the thugs ankle. That happened faster than it took me to type this.
Other times in my life I’ve been startled and instantly assumed a defense posture. One time, on a test drive, the “customer” pointed a cheap Jennings semi at me. Fool still had the safety on. Again, that training kicked in, and my reaction was instant.
I don’t know why that training lasted a lifetime, for me, but I’m grateful it has.
I’ve only had the lizard brain kick in twice.
Neither time was I actually threatened. I just initially believed I was.
In each case, that left the other guy startled at my reaction, but it de-escalated well each time.
But one other time, it was my frontal lobe that got me out of the real threat of being surrounded by 4 guys.
And another time where active quiet prayer gave me the words to de-escalate the situation.
If you’d paid the hooker you wouldn’t have had that problem. Boat captains think everything is free to them.
Being a little rough on Ed there doncha think?…but it was funny.
Ps. Employing the OODA Loop as WSF and friend did gets the thug off his game, if just for half a second. I’ve played in my head a few scenarios where I’d (like to believe) run at the perp instead of cowering…might get hurt or dead but would save others. Would I have the presence of mind and situational awareness to do it? Like to think so.
Well, a woman was involve.
Two, actually. Woulda been advantageous to know they were married.
“The good news is you can train yourself to overcome freeze:”
A simple solution would be to hire someone like Kato to jump you at the most inopportune times and after awhile you’ll be on your game.
It’s a proven training technique. Does your dog bite, Klaus?
No he doesn’t but thats not my dog.
😁
What would my SAFE reaction be? Draw and fire!
.
I don’t use WD-40. PB Blaster! works much better.
The safe reaction would be to draw and fire. The quote “Kill them all and let God sort them out” is based on the Latin phrase “Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius,” which translates to “Kill them. For the Lord knows who are His”. Better to be safe than sorry with the sure knowledge that they’re headed for either a better place or the fires of Hell.
I almost said that drjim! as WD-40 is not a lubricant. But hey, fish oil does wonders for certain things, plus it smells better than PB Blaster. Tradeoffs.
Fish oil? Hmmmm….have to think that one over. I know bacon grease is excellent for tapping holes in cast iron!
WD IS fish oil, Jim. And +5 on PB Blaster.
But before it came along it was WD.
And WD-40 is the choice of many of us when milling aluminum.
I’ve used it to lube aluminum when I sawed it. Kept the blade from getting plugged up with chips.
Monkey brain, I have more experience with monkey mouth. Had a lady whose house was on fire, at 06:00, with smoke rolling out the front soffit above our heads tell me; “I can’t go outside, I’m in my nightgown!” My monkey mouth retort was; “ well, you will die in your nightgown then!” It finally triggered some sort of semblance of common sense in her. At least I didn’t have to tackle her and drag her out kicking and screaming!
On Halloween, in Florida, it could have been your reptilian brain working in concert with the local alligators.
On second thought, the mere act of wearing a hockey goalie mask to a fire on Halloween and running in to meet the traumatized occupants would leave a lasting impression.
Could be a trend LL, good pro tip.
As a retired aviator, I’ve already had that ‘training’… and survived it. My response would be to get off the X, draw, and fire. And I’ve practiced that routinely at the range. Also shot IDPA for a number of years, so not just standing there punching paper. I will not go out on my knees. Period!
Re: WD-40 cartoon.
I realized (again) that a LOT of stuff I say goes right by people. So here’s the scene: A bunch of us were sitting in a hotel bar having a post-conference beer and “share-able” bar foods. We were missing a little plate and fork since a late person got there after the waitress distributed the eating implements. I went to the bar to get another plate and fork. Instead of a fork and paper napkins that the rest of us got, the bar guy handed me a cloth napkin with a fork, and knife, wrapped in it. Getting back to the table I partially unwrapped the napkin and presented the handle ends to the person needing a fork (me holding the napkin, because for some reason I thought it would be impolite to handle his fork — it was a long three days and I wasn’t thinking quite straight). So instead of taking both the fork and knife at the same time, the guy extracted the fork, then pulled the knife out slowly with a flourish. I thought of Excalibur and said, “Congratulations, you are now rightful King of the Britons.” The guy looked at me blankly and everyone else stared at me for a few seconds and then went back to whatever they were talking about. No one said a word about the King of the Britons thing. These were all friends who know me from “okay” to very well indeed. Not one word.
—
It’s good to get the chance to see yourself through other peoples’ eyes every once in a while. Ahahahaha!
Maybe they didn’t get it because you’re not a strange woman lying in a pond?
They would have gotten it if…
A) They actually saw the iconic film (how can you forget that one)
B) Maybe they had a few too many beers after said conference
C) Are so into their work that tone deafness prevailed
D) You were wearing a period helmet
This is a very helpful training post and what can we say? Train. Train. Train.
That in mind, we fall upon the adversary and destroy him utterly.
I know I’m late to the party here, and I hate to do this… Surly was incorrect with the Feature Film identification. Movie B is actually a composite image of Jack Skellington in his Santa outfit from “Nightmare before Christmas” and Emily from “The Corpse Bride”.